New York Red Bulls defender John Tolkin will be joining Mauricio Pochettino’s US team for the 2025 January camp. This will be the New Jersey-native’s fourth call up and first since the last January camp.
Tolkin has been circling a first team call-up for quite some time. Last year he represented his nation at the Paris Summer Olympics, finishing up his time with the U-23 team and finally permanently graduating to the top level. While in France, he become the sixth player to represent the United States in the Olympics, playing in all four games in the competition.
Tolkin’s 2025 season was also impressive has he improved under head coach Sandro Schrwarz, playing in 28 games and scoring two goals and notching one assist. Along the way he helped the team reach their second MLS Cup final, falling short to the LA Galaxy in a hard-fought game.
Whether Tolkin sees the field for either game against Venezuela or Costa Rica in late January remains to be seen. However, his inclusion shows that the new coach Pochettino isn’t going to shy away from experienced MLS players who are still young, despite their time on the field.
photo by Matt Kremkau